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You are doing better than me. The average for my '07 V8 is right at 13 mpg.



The best way to increase fuel efficiency is to drive like a little old lady. However, don't count on getting much better than that.
 
Lower restriction exhaust and an XCal2 tuner. Cost about $550 for both so you gotta weigh how long until you save that in gas. I'm thinking of buying a Gibson exhaust this weekend since I have a business trip and I'll be going right past Summit Racing in Ohio anyway.

The best mileage improvement I made was to buy a Dodge Neon that needed some work for $1400. I use the Trac for my 1.5 mile commute and carrying ladders and such, and use the Neon as much as possible for running around doing estimates.
 
There is numerous different things that can be done. Best answer and best bang for buck. Get rid of trac or get a better gas saver car. I'll say this much. In my '04 after upgrading my tires, I went from 16mpg to 13mpg. After installing the Zabteck TB mod and a Underdog MAC intake, I went from 13mpg to 17mpg. I'm hoping after doing the Zabteck (RT) Y-pipe/CAT with MagnaFlow Exhaust and the UnderDog Screamin' Demon coil pack and New plug wires/plugs, I will get even more mpg. After all of this is done, I will then finally upgrade to the XCAL2 programmer and see what that may do. Thats about the best answers I think you will get.



But I also agree, drive like an old lady, that will save you gas mileage. I've also noticed if I keep my speed between 75-80mph range on the highway, I get more mpg. Thats my couple of pennies to donate.
 
JohnnyO,



Make sure Summit has it in stock before you go there. They do not stock much for Explorers,. let along Sport Trac's.



Call me when you stop by Summit. I do not live far from there.





Tom
 
We have an '01, and on our last tank of gas we got 21 mpg; that was on 20.006 gal. (yup came into the gas station on a prayer) and drove 418.6 miles. The first half of the tank was a trip to Lake Tahoe last Saturday (mostly highway driving on mtn. roads), and the last half of the tank was around town driving. Drive very conservatively.



AirRaid Cold Air Intake;

Royal Purple: 5w-30 engine oil, Syncromax tranny fluid, power steering fluid, Purple Ice radiator additive, & MaxGear in the differential;

SCT XCalibrator II (w/ programs for 87 octane & towing);

Trick Flow differential cover w/ Royal Purple MaxGear oil;

Flex-a-lite 180 Extreme electric fan;

Taylor Vortec spark plug wires & new OEM plugs;

Flowmaster 70 Big Block single-in / duel-out exhaust

ZabTeck throttle body

 
Call me when you stop by Summit. I do not live far from there.
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Tom...you've got mail.

I'm a little reluctant to put too much money into the Trac because the lease is up next January. While I'd like to buy it because I really like it, depending what gas does I may go back to a 3.0/stick Ranger 4x4. Things like the skidplate and chromed tow hooks I can take off and sell.



With the 3.73 gears and 265/75's I get close to 20 on the highway, turns about 2200 rpm at 75 mph.

Around town mileage is lousy though.
 
JohnnyO, before considering buying back your off-lease ST, shop for used STs with the same or lower miles, and even a new '07 with incentives (soon there might be some). You might be surprised the difference. My wife's '04 Mountaineer just went off-lease, and the buy-back was about 3K higher than lower mileage '04 Mountaineers I could pick up used. Seems they have been depreciating more than anticipated, no doubt due to the gas prices.



TJR
 
Not sure why it is but hand calculated I get 24 hwy and 18 city with my 07 V8 ST 2 wd, if I want to gas it hard everytime I accelerate my gas mileage drop radically but I am 40 gas is 3 dollars a gallon here and I drive like I should, I do drive 70 on interstate and 5-10 over in city driving like any redblooded american.



Tim :cool:
 
Man, I wish I was getting 13 mpg in my '07 V8 4x2! I'm on my 3rd tank since getting it on 5/22, and I am getting 11.5 mpg. That's right.....11.5. I reset after each fillup, too, just to double check it. I do have a very heavy foot, but geez!! Thank God I love this truck......
 
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TJR...true, but I can always offer them less than the buyback if that's the going rate and they may take it just to keep another gas-sucking SUV off the used lot or getting wholesale at the auction. ;)
 
JohnnyO, they might take a lower offer...but if you leased through Ford Credit it's unlikely...to much red tape. I tried it on our lease and the dealer that leased it to me said "Sorry, we can only accept the buy-back price."



TJR
 
Michael Waltrip didn't put jet fuel in any race car. They found a jet fuel additive that is not allowed by NASCAR. A gasoline engine will not run on jet fuel which is really a highly refined and blended diesel fuel.
 
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dpc, your milage will usually be worse during the break-in period. Also, try not resetting it. I used to have an Expedition and I remember the reading would start off low, gradually rise over several fill-ups and then stabilize, plus or minus a gallon depending on how much city vs. highway driving I was doing. I don't know why it does this but it seemed to be working on some sort of averaging system, when you hit reset it goes back to zero and has to work it's way up again. I haven't checked this my ST yet.
 
I got 22 MPG on my trip to Louisville, KY last year, and that is on a bone stock (except for a K&N drop in air filter) 2003 Sport Trac driving as fast as 75 MPH when ever possible. These mileage figures were calculated with a great deal of precision, including filling the tank to the brim so I alway got an accurate reading to the amount of fuel consumed for the miles driven.



If you want to spend $1000 on equipment to maybe get you another 1-2 MPG at most, you can, but that $1000 will buy a lot of gas. Investing in a lot of add on equipment to improve gas mileage may be a false sense of economy.



I am convinced mileage is all about driving habits, traffic, weather and terrain, and the only one you can control is your driving habits.



16 MPG for mixed driving is not to bad so your driving habits are not too bad. The biggest problem is likely traffic, weather, or terrain and you can't do much about those.



...Rich
 
dpc, your milage will usually be worse during the break-in period.
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True. I'm on my second 4.0 SOHC Ford (1 Ranger, 1 ST) and in my experience it is a very "tight" engine when new. I change the oil at 2500 miles with regular oil, then at 5000 and every 5000 after with synthetic. The engine doesn't really break in and loosen up until around 10 to 12,000 miles.
 

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